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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2006

A Practical Approach to Starting Fission Surface Power Development

The Prometheus Power and Propulsion Program has been reformulated to address NASA needs relative to lunar and Mars exploration. Emphasis has switched from the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) flight system development to more generalized technology development addressing Fission Surface Power (FSP) and Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP). Current NASA budget priorities and the deferred mission need date for nuclear systems prohibit a fully funded reactor Flight Development Program. However, a modestly funded Advanced Technology Program can and should be conducted to reduce the risk and cost of future flight systems. A potential roadmap for FSP technology development leading to possible flight applications could include three elements: 1) Conceptual Design Studies, 2) Advanced Component Technology, and 3) Non-Nuclear System Testing. The Conceptual Design Studies would expand on recent NASA and DOE analyses while increasing the depth of study in areas of greatest uncertainty such as reactor integration and human-rated shielding. The Advanced Component Technology element would address the major technology risks through development and testing of reactor fuels, structural materials, primary loop components, shielding, power conversion, heat rejection, and power management and distribution (PMAD). The Non-Nuclear System Testing would provide a modular, technology testbed to investigate and resolve system integration issues.

Mason, Lee S.↗
DOE OSTI2026

ZiaCore Critical Experiment Demonstrates Key Technologies for Nuclear Energy Systems

ZiaCore is a LANL Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project focused on developing and demonstrating key technologies for future nuclear energy systems. The project itself was split into three tasks: 1) Design of the ZiaCore Reactor, a UO2 fueled, graphite and zirconium-hydride (ZrH) moderated, heat pipe cooled micro-reactor 2) Development of the ZrH and heat pipes components 3) Performance of a critical experiment with a representative portion of the ZiaCore reactor incorporating the ZrH and heat pipes developed and made at LANL.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS2002

System Description of the Gasdynamic Mirror Propulsion System

Nuclear fusion appears to be a most promising concept for producing extremely high specific impulse rocket engines. One particular fusion concept which seems to be very well suited for fusion propulsion applications is the gasdynamic mirror (GDM). An experimental GDM device has been constructed at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to provide an initial assessment of the feasibility of this type of propulsion system. A systems shakedown of the device is currently underway with initial experiments slated to occur in early 2002. The device has been constructed so as to allow a considerable degree of flexibility in its configuration thus permitting the experiment to easily grow over time without necessitating a great deal of additional fabrication. This flexibility is due in large part to the modular nature of the machine wherein additional modules may be added as needed to meet varying experimental objectives. Figure 1 shows the current configuration of the Gasdynamic Mirror Experiment, and Table 1 describes the main features of the device.

Emrich, William Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2024

ML based control systems for nuclear physics experiments

The Experimental Physics Software and Computing Infrastructure (EPSCI) group at Jefferson Lab is leading the use of machine learning (ML) to enhance control systems in nuclear physics experiments. Collaborating closely with domain experts and data scientists, we have developed an ML-based control system that uses a Gaussian process to dynamically adjust the high voltage of the GlueX Central Drift Chamber. This results in stable detector performance by adapting to environmental changes, thereby reducing the offline calibration effort. Furthermore, we are developing ML-driven systems for optimizing the polarization of photon beams and polarized cryotargets. These systems will maintain the optimal microwave frequency in cryogenic targets and make real-time adjustments to diamond radiators for polarized photon sources, tasks traditionally handled by human operators. By automating these functions, we aim to optimize the polarization, reduce downtime, and minimize human error. This talk will highlight the development of reliable ML-based control systems and the policies to ensure they are both effective and trustworthy.

Jeske, Torri↗
DOE OSTI2022

Nuclear Remote System Design: Radiation and Electronics

Idaho National Laboratory has unique opportunities to examine fuels, materials, and experiment inside of the available radiological hot cells. Due to the uninhabitable nature of a hot cell environment, everything done inside of the hot cell is operated remotely. Remote operations are optimized by Nuclear Remote System Design (NRSD). NRSD is the designing, altering, or configuring of structures, items, and systems that will be placed into radiological environments.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Integrated Energy Systems: Advanced Nuclear Plants with Thermal Storage for Dynamic and Flexible Operation in Diverse Markets

Energy supply, distribution, and demand are continuously evolving in accordance with the integration of new power generation sources. In the United States, there is a progressive shift toward incorporating fluctuating energy sources such as wind and solar into the energy mix, alongside the distributed generation. Simultaneously, we are seeing a revolution in consumer technologies such as electric vehicles, energy devices for both residential and commercial use, and industrial processes—all contributing to a fundamental change in energy consumption dynamics. These scenarios have led to huge demand for enhanced flexibility from nuclear power plants (NPPs), requiring them to operate with unprecedented adaptability. Furthermore, advanced NPPs (A-NPPs) could potentially apply to scenarios in which power generation flexibility is prioritized over its current and conventional baseload generation capacity for traditional demand patterns. The present work covers several configurations for coupling nuclear energy production with thermal energy storage (TES). Previous work evaluated systems entailing a simple nuclear-TES configuration that used steam as a heat source for the TES of three different advanced reactors (ARs), but its heat diversion ratio (HDR) for charging was limited. The present work proposes a new configuration that features full decoupling of the nuclear reactor and the power cycle, using reactor coolant (i.e., gas) as a heat source for the TES and offering a theoretically unlimited HDR. This configuration is, however, more complex, as both high- and low-temperature TES (HT-TES and LT-TES) systems are required in order to cover the extended temperature range. Although this configuration imposes certain limitations on the discharge system configuration, it also presents the opportunity to design a more efficient system. For this case in particular, a steam reheat cycle is advantageous. Conventional TES systems take advantage of nominal efficiency when discharging, whereas the reheat cycle in the fully decoupled TES system affords a significant efficiency increase over conventional cases. Material selection, component/equipment sizing, and costing analyses were performed, followed by economic dispatch and size optimization. Dynamic models were developed for the decoupled system in order to generate insights into aspects of off design operation (e.g., drops in cycle efficiency), and these models enable exploration of potential mitigation strategies for addressing such drops. The models also highlight the need to design fail-safes that ensure continuous operational stability and minimize the impact of power ramping on the reactor parameters.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
NASA NTRS1974

Nuclear Science Symposium, 20th, and Nuclear Power Systems Symposium, 5th, San Francisco, Calif., November 14-16, 1973, Proceedings

Subjects considered are in the areas of position sensitive detectors, semiconductor detector materials, semiconductor detector technology, biomedical instrumentation, reactor instrumentation, nuclear instrumentation, and data acquisition and processing. Topics related to photon detection are discussed together with methods for environmental radiation measurement, aspects of environmental gamma-ray analysis, and nuclear techniques for elemental analysis. Attention is also given to operation and design experience with systems at nuclear power plants. Individual items are announced in this issue.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2000

A Comparison of Brayton and Stirling Space Nuclear Power Systems for Power Levels from 1 Kilowatt to 10 Megawatts

An analytical study was conducted to assess the performance and mass of Brayton and Stirling nuclear power systems for a wide range of future NASA space exploration missions. The power levels and design concepts were based on three different mission classes. Isotope systems, with power levels from 1 to 10 kW, were considered for planetary surface rovers and robotic science. Reactor power systems for planetary surface outposts and bases were evaluated from 10 to 500 kW. Finally, reactor power systems in the range from 100 kW to 10 mW were assessed for advanced propulsion applications. The analysis also examined the effect of advanced component technology on system performance. The advanced technologies included high temperature materials, lightweight radiators, and high voltage power management and distribution.

Mason, Lee S.↗
DOE OSTI2021

INTEGRATED RISK ASSESSMENT OF DIGITAL I&C SAFETY SYSTEMS FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

Upgrading the existing analog instrumentation and control (I&C) systems to state-of-the-art digital I&C (DI&C) systems provides the foremost means to improve performance and reduce costs for existing light-water reactors (LWRs). However, qualification of digital technologies remains a challenge?especially the issue of software common cause failure (CCF), which has been difficult to address. Existing analyses of CCFs in I&C systems mainly focus on hardware failures. With the application and upgrading of new DI&C systems, software CCFs due to design flaws might become a potential threat to plant safety, considering that most redundancy designs use similar digital platforms or software in their operating and application systems. With complex multi-layer redundancy designs to meet the single failure criterion, these I&C safety systems are of particular concern in U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing procedures. In 2019, the Risk-Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway of the U.S. Department of Energy?s (DOE?s) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program initiated a project to develop a risk assessment strategy for delivering a strong technical basis to support effective, licensable, secure DI&C technologies for digital upgrades/designs. An integrated risk assessment for the DI&C (RADIC) process was proposed for this strategy to identify potential key digital-induced failures, implement reliability analyses of related digital safety I&C systems, and evaluate the unanalyzed sequences introduced by these failures (particularly software CCFs) at the plant level. This paper summarizes these RISA efforts in the risk analysis of safety-related DI& systems at Idaho National Laboratory.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

An Integrated Risk Assessment Process of Safety-Related Digital I&C Systems in Nuclear Power Plants

Upgrading the existing analog instrumentation and control (I&C) systems to state-of-the-art digital I&C (DI&C) systems will greatly benefit existing light water reactors. However, the issue of software common cause failure (CCF) remains an obstacle in terms of qualification for digital technologies. Existing analyses of CCFs in I&C systems mainly focus on hardware failures. With the application and upgrading of new DI&C systems, design flaws could cause software CCFs to become a potential threat to plant safety, considering that most redundancy designs use similar digital platforms or software in their operating and application systems. With complex multilayer redundancy designs to meet the single failure criterion, these I&C safety systems are of particular concern in U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing procedures. In Fiscal Year 2019, the Risk-Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program initiated a project to develop a risk assessment strategy for delivering a strong technical basis to support effective, licensable, and secure DI&C technologies for digital upgrades and designs. An integrated risk assessment for the DI&C process was proposed for this strategy to identify potential key digital-induced failures, implement reliability analyses of related digital safety I&C systems, and evaluate the unanalyzed sequences introduced by these failures (particularly software CCFs) at the plant level. Here this paper summarizes these RISA efforts in the risk analysis of safety-related DI&C systems at Idaho National Laboratory.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗